Labeling-machine.



'1 No. 724,715. I PATENT@ APRI?, 1903. 1 P. 11. KNAPP a o. w. BLAGKSTONEl I0 MODEL.

8 SHEETS-SHEET l,

I. Mm n c M f1 1% -"1mi i W lh -i I E illlllgl j, NV. mm l l 10.724,715. PA'TENTED APR.'7,1903.

F. H. KNAPP L c. W. BLAGKSTONE.

LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION PILE-D JAN. 25, 1902.

U0 MODEL.

. I 8 SHEETS- SHEET 8.r y

i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNORS TO THE FRED H. KNAPP COMPANY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

I ABELING.-MAc'l-ilNl-z.i`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,715, dated Aprn 7, 1903. i Application filed .Tammy 25, 1902. senti No. 91,154. (No man.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRED H. KNAPP and CLARENCE W. BLACKSTCNE, citizens of the United States, residing ,at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Laheling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates `particularly to can- 1o labeling machines of thevgeneral construction shown in PatentsNo. 548,866, October 29, 1895; No. 561,656, June 9,. 1896, and No. 612,825, October 25, 1898.

Our primary object is to provide an improved label-receptacle for machines of this character, improved means for operating the label-follower employed in connection with said receptacle, and .improved means for preserving the vertical alinement of the rear 2o edges of the labels in the receptacle.`

As is wellunderstood','machines of the character referred to are provided with longitudinally-eXtending runways or guides for the cans to travel in, an endless belt or conveyer located above the runway and having a rearwardly-traveling lower portion engaging the upper portions of the cans, a paste-applying roll over which the cans pass near the feed end of the machine, and a label-receptacle 3o located in the rear of the pastefapplyingroll.

and having its upper margin liush with the guides upon which the cans travel, said receptacle being provided with a follower,

which serves to'elevate the labels, so that' they shall come in succession to the level of said guides, there to be engaged by the cans on their passage through the machine.

Our invention is illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings,

4o in which* i Figure 1 represents a broken side elevational view illustrating the central portion of a machine with our attachments applied thereto; Fig. 2, a broken central longitudinal section of the bottom of the runway in the rear of the label-receptacle and showing a labelstop employed; Fig. 3, a transverse section taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a spring employed in connection with the la- 5o bel-stop; Fig. 5, an enlarged vertical section taken as indicated at line 5 o'f Fig. 1, the

ratchet-wheel and attendant parts not being shown in section; Fig. 6, a fragment of one side of the label-receptacle; Fig. 7, a perspective view of a rocklever employed, and Fig. 8 aside elevational' view of ratchet mechanism employed.

A represents the upper longitudinal frame members of a can-labeling` machine; A', the lower longitudinal frame members thereof; B, the runway, having a yielding side piece a of well-known construction; B', a conveyerbelt,'the lower portion of whichis engaged and dished downwardly by suitably-fashioned rolls b for the purpose explained in Patent No. 561,656; C, a label-receptacle; D, a label-stop arranged at the rear end of said 1abel-receptacle; E, a label-follower constituting, in effect, a movable bottom for the labelreceptacle C and carried by a stem E', equipped at its lower end with a rack E2; E3, a depending bracket supported from a cross lmember E4, having arms E5, connected with the upper portions of the longitudinal frame members A' E6,ahorizontally-disposed shaft journaled in bearings E7, connected with the lower end o f. the bracket E3; ES, a pinion on said shaft and engaging the rack E2;'E9, a ratchet-wheel fixed to said shaft and serving to rotate the same; E10, an arm journaled on the shaft E6 and e'quippedat its outer end with a pawl E11, engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel; E12, aconnecting-rod, through the medium of which the arm E10 and its pawl are actuated; E13, a stationary arm equipped with a pawl or dog E11, which serves to prevent retraction of the ratchet-wheel; E15, a pawl-releasing device journaled on the shaft E6 and provided with arms c c,equipped with pins c2 c3, respectively, engaging. the inner sides of the pawls E14 E11, respectively, said device E15 being further provided with an actuating-handle c1; F, a can-actuated rockarm provided with a slot f, with-which the upper end of the rod E12 is connected; G, Figs. 2 and 3, a bottom section for the runway B, located in the rear of the 1abelrecep tacle; Gr', a slide connected therewith and forming a part of the label-stop D; G2, a la bel-engaging finger carried by said slide; G3, loo

a spring connected with the bottom piece G and serving to yieldingly hold the slide G', and H a tension device of well-known construction, which engages the rear portion of the uppermost label.

The direction of travel of the conveyer-belt is indicated by the arrowin Fig. l, and a can g is shown in dotted lines to clearly indicatethe course of the cans through the machine. The upper portion of the receptacle C forms, in effect, a part of the bottom of the runway for the cans. l

The receptacle O has its end nearest the slide G open, thereby exposing the ends of the labels against which the tappet-operating portion G2 of the slide operates, and is provided with an adjustable side ZL, carried by angle-irons h', whose horizontal portions rest on thearlns E5 at that side of the machine and move in guides h2. Connected with the member E4 is a bracket h3, with which a bolt h1 has threaded connection, said bolt 'being provided with a lock-nut h5 and having connection at its inner end with the side h,whicl1 it serves to adjust. The rock-arm F is connected with the upper portion of the side plate ZL by a pivot k, having an inwardly-projecting end formed with a knife-edge 7c', the latter serving to engage the adjacent edge of the uppermost label. The lever F is proe vided at its front end with an inwardly-projecting lug k2 and at its rear end with an inwardly-projecting lug 7c3, the former moving in a recess 7a4 and the latter in a recess 705, with which the side 7L is provided. A spring k6, Fig. 6, supported by a lug k7, Fig. 5, serves to resist depression of the front end of the lever F. When a can passes over the top of the label-receptacle, it first engages the front end of the lever F (assuming an elevation of the labels to be required) and depresses the same, thereby raising the rear end of said lever and lifting the connecting-rod E12 to canse the pawl E11 to engage a new tooth on the ratchet wheel. As the can continues its movement the uppermost label adheres to the can and is wrapped thereupon, and after the can passes the pivotal point of the lever F it serves to depress the rear end of said lever, thereby actuating the pawl Ell'an d moving the ratchet-Wheel E9 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l. The effect is to raise the follower E, through the medium of the rack E2, a distance corresponding to the thickness of several labels, and thereafter the lever makes only short or ineffective 0scillations till the labels are used suiiiciently to permit the can t0 depress the lever the full working stroke.

Opposite the side h is an adjustable side Z, supported on angle-irons Z', having horizontal members Z2, resting on corresponding arms E5 of the member E4. The members Z2 move in guides Z3, the latter being equipped with standards or spring-retainers Z4, bearing inwardly-projecting studs Z5, receiving springs Z, confined between the members Z and the outer surface of the side Z. Located'c'entrally of the length ofthe receptacle is a bracket Z7, supported from the members E4 and provided at its upper end with a perforation, which loosely receives a bolt or stud Z8, having its inner end secured toa boss on the outer surface of the side Z. The outer end of the stud Z8 is threaded and equipped with a 7 washer Z9 and a hand-wheel or manually-operated nut ZO. The sides of the receptacle are adjusted to hold the labels accurately` and the construction is such that the side Z may be readily moved to permit a fresh sup- 8 ply of labels to be introduced into the receptacle. After the labels are introduced the nut Z10 is unturned, allowing the springs Z5 to force the side Z inwardly against the adjacent edges of the labels. Thereafter the nut is given a slight turn to the right to slightly relieve the pressure of the side plate upon thc labels.

In Fig. l the upper front portion of the side plate Z is shown equipped with a short 9 rock-arm m, spring-actuated in one direction by a spring m' and actuated in the other direction by a can passing over the front end of the receptacle. The arm m is supported at its rear end by a pivot lliijolllnaled in the side plate Zand having a knife-edge m3 engaging the uppermost label.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, inclusive, the spring G3 is connected at its rear portion with the plate G by means of a staple n and has I at its front portion two inwardly-projecting ends n, which connect with lugs n2, with which the slide G is provided. The finger G2 has a forwardly-projecting point its, which projects over the rear margin of the uppert most label, and it has also a vertical portion a4, which engages the rear edges of the uppermost labels and serves to keep the same in proper alinement.

The operation will be readily understood t by those skilled in the art. Cans are fed into the machine in the usual manner and automatically spaced by the machine so as to follow each other in regular order, and in passing over the label-receptacle they pick up the r 15 labels one by one, each can alternately actuating the rock-lever F (effectively or incf fectively) in one direction and then in the other, thereby to cause the follower E to be positively moved upwardly by successive 1 steps as a fresh supply of labels is needed. After thefollower E has been fed to the top of its traverse the pawl-releasing device E15 may be moved through the medium of the handle c, thereby raising the pawls E1'L and I E11 and permitting a reverse movement of the ratchet-wheel E9, the follower falling down of its own weight.

As each can passes over the labels, one label is wrapped upon it, the slide G yielding 1 somewhat at the passage of the can and under the reaction of its spring acting as a tappet to restore the rear edges of the top labels to vertical alinement. The tip n3 of the iinowing to its springy nature.

most label is held under light pressure at its,

ger G2 may yield somewhat vertically also,

Thus the toprear margin, but is readilyv withdrawn during the passage of the can;

Changes in minor details of construction within the spirit of our invention may be made. Hence no undue limitation is to be understood from'the foregoing detailed description.

What we regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y 1. In a machine of the character described, a label-receptacle, a lever pivotally connected therewith and having can-engaging means located on opposite sides of its pivot, a connecting-rod actuated by said lever, alabel-follower, and follower-actuating means actuated by said connecting-rod.

2. In a machine of the character described, a label-receptacle having a movable bottom constituting a follower, a movable side plate supported by members moving in suitable guides, stationary spring-retainers located near the ends of said plate, springs confined I between said retainers and the outer surface a label-receptacle and a suitably-actuated laof said plate, a centrally-located threaded stud connected with said plate, a stationary bracket provided with a perforation through which said stud extends, and a nut on the outer end of said stud.

3. In a machine of the character described,

bel-follower, in combination with a slide longitudinally reciprocable with reference to the sides of its pivot, with the label-follower, and' means for raising said follower positively actuated by said rock-lever.

5. In a machine of the character descri-bed,` the combination vof a label-receptacle, a lever pivotally connected therewith and having can-engaging means located on opposite sides of its pivot, with a label-follower provided with a rack, a shaft equipped with a pinion engaging said rack, a ratchet-wheel serving to operate said shaft, an 'arm journaled on said shaft carrying a pawl engaging said ratchet-wheel, a connecting-rod, connections between said connecting-rod, pawl and arm, a pawl engaging said ratchet-wheeland attached to a stationary support, and a can-actuated member serving to actuate said con-l necting-rod.

FRED H. KNAPP. CLARENCE W. BLACKSTONE. In presence of- L. HEISLAR, A. C. KITTLnsoN. 

